Archive for the 'Contests' Category

Sometimes, there are books that I’d really like to read, but I know I am already over-committed and I just have to say no. But that doesn’t mean YOU can’t read it! So today, I’ve got a guest post from Joe Canzao, author of Magno Girl. I loved the synopsis:

When a Manhattan pizza maker is found dead in his own dough, Magno Girl enlists the aid of her biker ninja boyfriend to help solve the crime – and quickly discovers there’s more to the pie than meets the eye, including a sinister plot that spans the globe.

Magno Girl leaps into action. After all, she can fly, she can fight, and she can use her fearsome superpower, the “Gaze of the Guilt,” to bring a hardened criminal to his knees. But the road ahead is hard. The city’s other superheroes despise her, and the cops don’t want her around, and her own mom won’t stop spitting out advice about marrying a “respectable guy” and trading in her crime-fighting career for a baby carriage—but is she attracted to “respectable guys”? And is she interested in emotional commitment? And will finding real love be her biggest challenge of all?

How could you not want to read that! And now, you’ll get a chance to. First, Joe has a few words about writing and humor; after that, you’ll get a chance to enter a giveaway and win a signed copy of Magno Girl. Keep reading…

Guest Post: Joe Canzano, author of Magno Girl

“So, what kind of novel do you have?”

“It’s a humor novel.”

“Yeah, but what kind of book is it?”

“It’s absurd humor—comedy.”

“Yeah, but is it a mystery? A science fiction book? What is it?”

There was a time when this was a normal conversation for a writer of comedy fiction. Comedy only existed inside of other pigeonholes. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was sold as a science fiction book – and it is sci-fi, but isn’t it humor first? I found it in the sci-fi section of the bookstore. Do you remember book stores? They were like phone booths and buffaloes—once there were millions of them, but now, not so much.

Thanks to the internet, there is now a “humor” section in the book world, and I appreciate that change. I can call my novel “humor”, and then drill it down to other things that it’s related to, but really isn’t. I’m talking about something like fantasy. If I call my book “fantasy” it will not be what readers of that genre expect. It sure doesn’t belong anywhere near The Lord of The Rings.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Gandalf and his merry gang—THAT book is true fantasy. That’s old school, high fantasy, where men are men and hobbits are hobbits and women are scarce.

“But there were girls in the movie!” you say. They added them in. The books were all about a bunch of guys—wait, is Gollum a guy? Okay, the books were all about a bunch of non-females. It was a great story, but it was a little light on the lip gloss.

When all is said and done, I call my novel, Magno Girl, “comic urban fantasy,” since that’s the closest thing that fits outside of just calling it “humor.”

And now for the giveaway! Leave me your name and email (it won’t be visible to anyone but me) and tell me what your Superpower would be! US residents only, please. Enter by 5pm EST on Sunday, February 15th, and I will announce the winner on Monday. Good luck!

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Check back later this week for a review of Paris Letters by Janice McLeod – in the meantime, check out this contest – you could win a one-of-a-kind painting based on your special travel photo! Check this out:

Now, a special THANK YOU to the good folks at Sourcebooks, the place to go for all your romance reading needs, for sponsoring this giveaway! As we get ready for the release of Thrill Ride, they’re offering a copy of Rev It Up: Black Knights Inc.by Julie Ann Walker, the book where we first meet Rock and Vanessa.

The rules are simple:

1. The giveaway is open to readers in the US and Canada.

2. The giveaway runs through midnight EST on Sunday, April 28th.

3. To enter, use the form below. Your email will not be visible, I promise.

4. The winner will have 24 hours to respond with their mailing address, so watch your email to see if you’re my winner!

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Did you share this on Facebook or Twitter? Include a link, so I can give you bonus entries!

How can you resist a guest post like this? Today, I have a great guest post as well as a chance to win a free book! That’s a terrific end of the work-week, if you ask me.

I knew as soon as I got the email that I wanted to read Heath’s guest post. You know the posts I have here, I love to know what’s going on inside an author’s head, and this is one heck of an idea.

Be sure to check the end of the post for your chance to win a copy of The Manufactured Identity. Just fill in the entry form at the end of the post and you could be my lucky winner!

On Serial Killers and Breakfast CerealHeath Sommer

The first time I worked with a serial killer was actually my very first client in graduate school. Wide-eyed, eager to change the world, and unsure I would ever finish the degree I was only halfway through, I entered the small testing room and there he was. Average height, build, face and mannerisms. His referral sheet said he wanted an evaluation for attention deficit disorder, but when I asked him how he was doing, he told me he was seriously considering killing his wife.

The inclination in such a context is to laugh. We are used to friends and family spouting off trite aggressions that we never take seriously, but a brief analysis of his eyes convinced me there would be no grin or chuckle associated with this very real threat. I played it cool, looking down at my notes and pretending to scribble while in reality wondering what to do. No one had ever trained me for this—not yet anyway. I was supposed to give a few surveys and tests and then dangle an over-diagnosed label. Instead, I did some research and found that this man had a trail of criminality and a bona fide rap sheet of homicide and violence.

I went home, looked at my children and hugged them in a way that ten years later they would protest in adolescent irritation. The next day, however, I had to face him again. And the next. And the next, and soon I found that serial killers—now don’t think I’m crazy—sound normal. They don’t speak like Barry the Blade or Tommy Two Tone, jerking out verbs and nouns with sharp crescendos and sneering lip contours. They sound like the kids you ate lunch with every day. Maybe not the kid you hung out with most, but the one who sat with you all and no one ever really knew. They sound like a quiet Sunday school teacher or a philosophical seat-mate on an airplane. They don’t stick out. Of course not. If they had targets, they would be caught. A repeat killer must be a master of looking normal!

For awhile this bothered me. Scared me. How do you go about working by day, hearing about mutilation and terror, then going home and watching Barney and Dora and feeding your children breakfast? Thankfully, it soon dawned on me. The fact that creepy people were all around me wasn’t new. It was as old as time. If I’m Christian, Cain was family. (Abel didn’t see it coming.) If I’m secularist, H.H. Holmes seemed like a nice nineteenth-century businessman in Chicago, not a master of torture and rape. If I’m an advocate for the elderly, Dorothea Peunte broadcast herself as a nice old lady, not a psycho butcher burying her mentally and physically disabled boarders in her backyard.

No, people, it turns out, are hard to predict. And so in writing them—in becoming a published novelist whose job it is to capture the insides of how villains live with themselves, it became obvious. Villains had to be relatable. Had to think like you and me. Had to be sad when no one came to their birthday parties and wonder if they’d ever find love. Readers would have to be able to think like and feel like these objectionable members of society, because, creepy as it is, we are more alike than different. Scary, right? But embracing this truth, rather than fearing it, has made me able to function and exist, much like knowing that when I am camping there is truly little I can do to stop a bear from eating me. In both
instances, the predator lurks, but the likelihood is so remote as to not warrant panic and isolation.

In the end, I met with that first patient for the final time and diagnosed him with many things—including a genuine case of ADHD. But I would continue diagnosing him, and the many, many like him whom I would meet over the course of my career, in the storylines that wake me at night and refuse to remain locked inside. Writing about those who walk normally among us, but occasionally kill. And then feeding my children some granola the next morning.

Now, the good stuff! Just fill in the form below (don’t worry, your email address is hidden) and you might win a copy of The Manufactured Identity. Entries close at 5:00 pm EST on Monday, February 18th. The giveaway is open to readers in the US and Canada. Share the giveaway on Twitter or Facebook (and provide a link in the box below) to get a bonus entry.

Good luck and good reading!

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Did you share this on Facebook or Twitter? Include a link, so I can give you bonus entries!

Welcome to the Black Friday Book Bonanza! I’m hosting this giveaway hop along with Heather from Book Savvy Babe and Jenn at the Bawdy Book Blog. You know how this works: you can enter my giveaway using the form below, then use the linky to connect with more than 70 other Black Friday giveaways! Why fight the crowds at the mall when you can stay at home and win free books!

I’ve got 2 boxes of books to give away for the Black Friday Book Bonanza. That’s right: 2 boxes of books. I won’t tell you exactly what’s in each box — where’s the fun in that? — but I can tell you some are new, some gently used, some hardcover, some trade paperbacks, some final copies and possibly an ARC or two. A nice mix of things to read over the holidays. I have no doubt that my winners will be thrilled.

But you’ve got a decision to make.

You have to tell me which box you want to win. I’m going to choose one winner from each list, so think carefully and then tell me:

Fiction or Non-Fiction?

I’ve got a Fiction Box and I’ve got a Non-Fiction box. The Fiction box has titles like Killing Them Softly(coming soon to a theater near you with Brad Pitt), The Mirage and So Pretty It Hurts. Right now, there are 8 books in the fiction pile and as I clear some shelves, it is constantly growing. You’ll get as many books as I can fit in the shipping box. As for Non-Fiction, I’m out to prove that just because it’s true doesn’t mean it’s boring! We’ve got Dr. Drew’s book, The Mirror Effect, Cruising Attitude (about flight attendants – loved it) and Fifth Avenue, 5 AM, about the making of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, among other great titles. Each box will have 6-10 titles, depending on what I can fit in the shipping box.

There are just a few rules:

Contest runs through 11:59 pm EST, November 25, 2012.

Open to readers in the US only (sorry, but I really got burned on shipping last year and I have had to scale back).

You receive one entry for using the form below.

You can receive up to 2 additional entries for sharing this contest on Facebook or Twitter, and providing a link below or in a comment. (If your accounts on Facebook and Twitter are locked, or “followers only”, the entry will not count.)

You must provide a valid email in the entry below (the entry is not visible on the site). You’ll have 24 hours to respond by email and claim your prize.

So pick your poison and fill in the entry form below. Take a moment to share this on Twitter or Facebook and include the link in the form, for 2 bonus entries. Then, start clicking on the blue frog below — there are a lot of other contests to enter!

Remember – you must tell me which collection you want to win!

YOU CANNOT WIN IF YOU DON’T CHOOSE A BOX!

Your Name (required)

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What would your Superpower be?

Also: Did you share this on Facebook or Twitter? Include a link, so I can give you bonus entries!

You’ve read the book…now see it come to life on movie screens nationwide!

For one day only on Thursday,November 15th, select movie theaters nationwide will show the award-winning film version of Harper Lee’s classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird, in an event in honor of its 50th anniversary. In partnership with Fathom Events, Harper Perennial is offering YOU a chance to win 2 tickets for this event, plus a copy of the book!

PRIZE PACK:2 tickets to the event at the movie theater nearest you and a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird

TO PARTICIPATE:

First: Click here for a list of participating theaters to confirm there is a screening of the event near you.

Second: Comment on this post and share it with your friends on your own blog/Facebook/Twitter!

Third: Use the entry form below to leave me your name and email (your email will not be visible).

**A winner will be selected at random at 11:00 pm Sunday, October 28th.
**To participate, first CONFIRM there is a movie theater in your area.

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Make room on your shelves for 2013!

The Holidays are right around the corner and The Black Friday Book Bonanza is Back! This means that it is time to clear some space on the bookshelves. What better time to give away books than the holidays? Instead of running out to the stores on Black Friday, stay in and win new or new-to-you books. Once again, the hosts for this hop are Heather from Book Savvy Babe, Jenn from The Bawdy Book Blog, and Lisa from Alive on the Shelves. The dates: 12:01 AM Friday November 23 through 11:59 PM November 25. Here are the guidelines to join the hop:

Giveaway hosts can be any blogger, US/CAN/International, but the giveaway must be book related (books, book depository, Amazon/B&N gift card, etc)

Must include button with links to the 3 hosts in your post

Specify if your giveaway is open US or International

We want this hop to be as easy, stress free, and simple as possible, so no more than 4 entries total per blog host (please, no daily entries either)

Each host can add their own disclaimers and rules specific to their site, but make sure the post is up at 12:01 Friday and closes at midnight on Sunday

Be sure that your post is easy to find. Either make it a sticky post or link at the top of your page, or have the button easy to see and link it to your post.

Either include the linky list or link to the linky list of participating blogs in your post.

We will be checking posts, if your post does not go up on Friday, you will be removed from the linky

Please try to announce your winners as soon as possible (Monday or Tuesday)

Fraudulent car accidents is a multi-million dollar racket, involving unscrupulous medical providers, personal injury attorneys, and the cooperating passengers involved in the accidents—and who also receive a portion of the illegal proceeds. Such is the fate of newly engaged, Nathan and Shari, whose joy is tempered by the dark cloud of mounting debt.

A chance encounter with a stranger in whom Shari confides her troubles proves fortuitous: he tells her of a get-rich-quick scheme that will put her and her fiancé on easy street. Seduced by the chance to move from hard times to good times in no time, Shari takes the carrot offered her, and finds herself acting as a “stuffed passenger”—the “victim” in a staged auto accident. The act goes according to plan and Shari gets her payday, but getting out and breaking free of the insurance fraud underworld will take nothing short of a miracle.

A modern day cautionary tale, Crashers is a true-to-life novel that uncovers how the innocent get lured into the scheme of “cappers” and “hammers.”

And now…a few words from the author, Lindy S. Hudis:

An Artist’s Life For Me

While in the process of promoting my latest book, “Crashers”, I thought I would speak a little bit about my “aspiring actress” past. Now, I was just an aspiring actress, mind you. I had tiny bit parts here and there. I was a dancing bimbo on Married With Children, and a nosey reporter on the daytime drama Sunset Beach. I was as interesting journey, being an actress wanna-be in Los Angeles, and yes, I have written a book about that, too.

However, I will talk about that on my next blog tour – when promoting that book.

It was an exciting yet heartbreaking time, but it was also a time of self discovery. I discovered that I am much better suited behind the scenes, like writing. My husband, a Hollywood stuntman, and I have started our own production company, Impact Motion Pictures. We are in the process of producing out own scripts and projects. So far, so good. We have several horror projects that we are bringing to life – myself being a horror fan! Another interesting journey.

Living in Los Angeles, California is an adventure to say the least. The wild and crazy city has inspired all of my literary works, because of the sheer drama and power of such a huge metropolis. “Crashers” was inspired by all of the shenanigans that go on across the hectic and intimidating Los Angeles freeways.

This is what inspired my story. I was in a minor fender bender several years ago. One of the parties involved decided to pretend that she was seriously injured and decided to sue all the drivers involved. It was a very minor accident, no injuries or damage at all. Anyway, I was so mortified that somebody would actually try to pull this kind of a scam that I decided to channel all of that anger into a story. There are dishonest people out there that are ready and willing to do anything for money, people need to be very careful.

So, I have discovered on this journey called life that I need to have that creative artistic expression, or my soul will just wither away. I think all creative people need that. So, in any capacity, I feel very confident that an artistic life – and one full of inspiration – is the one for me. Please visit my website at www.CrashersBook.com.

_______________________________

About the Author:

Lindy S.Hudis is a graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she studied drama. She is a former actress, having appeared on such television shows as “Sunset Beach” and “Married with Children”. Her romantic murder mystery, Weekends, is currently available from Lachesis Press. She is also a filmmaker, her independent short film “The Lesson”, which she wrote, produced and directed, screened at the Seattle Underground Film Festival. She is co-owner of an independent production company called Impact Motion Pictures. She and her husband Steve, a Hollywood stuntman, have just completed the screenplay adaptation of Charmaine Hammond’s best selling book, “On Toby’s Terms.” She lives in California with her family. Visit Lindy on the web at www.crashersbook.com.

Tina Haveman is the founder and CEO of eXtasy Books and Devine Destinies. Tina was born in Europe, left there at age eight, then traveled to several countries with her parents, to finally settle in Australia for many years. She immigrated to Canada in 1973 where she has lived since.

After raising a family of five as a single mother, she finally found time to concentrate on her writing. In 2000 she started her own publishing house with a partner but became too busy with eXtasy and Devine to continue her involvement and withdrew to focus entirely on eXtasy and Devine.

Tina devotes all her time to her publishing house and authors and is grateful for the success her company is experiencing. “After many years of struggling to keep my head above water while raising five children on my own, I have much to be thankful for,” said Tina. “While the company affords me a comfortable living now and I have quite a staff aboard, I thoroughly enjoy what I do and won’t stop until someone up above tells me it’s time.”

About eXtasy Books

eXtasy Books first opened its doors December 2002 with a small website that was soon revamped into a more business like site. Within a matter of months, eXtasy outgrew that website and had to build another site to accommodate its growing catalog. Since then, the site has been revamped a number of times. Our imprint, Devine Destinies, started in 2008 to accommodate mainstream, YA, inspirational and children’s books.

Since eXtasy’s birth, it has seen several upheavals, but with hard work, a loyal staff and a loyal stable of authors, eXtasy managed to survive them, along with the depression that hit our countries hard.

This past years has seen tremendous growth at eXtasy and we have moved our website to our own dedicated server to accommodate its growing readership.

We publish a wide variety of stories ranging from short stories to full books, pricing kept reasonable to accommodate our readers. Prices range from 1.59 to 5.99.

eXtasy Books has always been and is a devout supporter of e-books and e-readers. There are so many print books destroyed every year, it’s unbelievable. Go Green, is our motto. Save our forests! With so many new e-readers on the market, think about the ease of taking books along when traveling, getting rid of dust collecting books in your house, thereby making more room, being able to read a book on your phone or handheld while going to and from work on a bus or train. Think about the many books you can store on your computer. And think about the books you can hide from nosy relatives or children…

We have an attractive reward program in place. Receive 5 dollars on first sign up for an account that can be applied if you spend 20 or more dollars. For every purchase you receive 10% of your total in rewards. These rewards can be saved or you can use them when you come back to buy more books. We’re always looking for new ways to make our site a great shopping experience. Come and visit us at http://www.extasybooks.com and/or http://www.devinedestinies.com

In real life, tango can also be in code. Fleischhauer interviewed professional dancers in Buenos Aires and asked them to reveal their personal tango notation systems. Most couples have some kind of system to memorize their complex choreographies.

How Tango Can Reveal Secrets:

In the example below, Fleischhauer shows from a dancer’s perspective how tango code might reveal the truth about a romance—will it be a thriller, or just more filler?

The music starts…

Step: Tijera — Scissor: A movement, usually danced by the man, in which an extended leg is withdrawn and crossed in front of the supporting leg without weight so that it remains free for the next step or movement.

Possible Interpretation: “Interesting, he really likes to dance these tijeras. Not the kind of sequence you would expect the first time you are dancing with a stranger, but let’s wait and see where this is all going.”

Step: Enganche — Hooking; coupling; the little hook: Occurs when a partner wraps a leg around the other’s leg, or uses a foot to catch and hold the other’s foot or ankle.

Possible Interpretation: “That enganche is really a little early for my taste. Strange, he does not really strike me as the pushy type at all. I´ve been watching him with other women, obviously, and I know he has been watching me. Is he doing all of this to show off to someone else?”

Step: Adorno — Adornment; embellishment; decoration: Complicated or syncopated movements which the dancer uses to demonstrate their skill and to interpret the music.

Possible Interpretation: “Yes. I better stay on my guard with this guy. All these adornos probably aren´t event meant for me. Is he dancing with me at all? He’s so self-absorbed he probably would not even notice if I did one myself. Let’s see. OK, I was wrong. He did notice. And I can just sense he is going to pick up on it …”Step: Desplazamiento — Displacement: Displacing the partner’s leg or foot using one’s own leg or foot.

Possible Interpretation: “I was right. But what is he really trying to say now with this desplazamiento. My guess still is he is just very much in love with himself.”Step: Ocho Cortado — Cut eight: change of direction. Typical in club-style tango where many such brakes are used to avoid collisions. Describes a movement done on either foot, pivoting forward or backward, and going either left or right.

Possible Interpretation: “Well, maybe not, after all. The way he just looked at me while he was doing these subtle ocho cortados. I must say, that was really exquisite. I wouldn’t mind to dance a whole tanda with him.”

Step: Rabona: — A walking step with a syncopated cross. Done forward or backward the dancer steps on a beat, quickly closes the other foot in cruzada, and steps again on the next beat. Adapted from soccer.

Possible Interpretation: “Hmmm, I just love it when the ochos get even more syncopated into rabonas. And he’s only looking at me now. Who is he, anyway? He´s cautious, but confident, and likes to surprise with suggestive little details.”
The music stops. We stand in a tight embrace, maybe a little too tight now, leaning on each other as the cortina jingle sets in.

“Otra vez?” he asks as the cortina fades and tango music sets in again. “Once more?” And then the penny drops: tijeras, enganche, adorno, desplazamiento, ocho cortado, rabono… otra vez? T.e. a.d.o.r.o… I adore you! What a charmer.